Beautiful tragic film

Rating: 9/10 (23 January 2009)

I agree with most reviewers: This is a beautiful, poetic film, with an enthralling story, beautiful cinematography, and lovely score. Butin the end I found 1900 to be a tragic, flawed character. There was nothing noble in his self-imposed constraint of never setting foot off ship. He came close to leaving the ship but doesn't do so because he was traumatized by the uncertainty of life. His assessment of life was correct: boundaries in life are ill-defined; a person has latitude in how he or she chooses to live their life. A great person is someone who expands their horizons throughout life, who continually seeks more and is willing to take a chance even at risk of failure. 1900, on the other hand, elects to live in a cocoon and prefers to die in his late 40's rather than venture forth. His fear of the unknown resulted in a marginal existence. Except for his "father," he never had any close relationships  1900 is detached even from Max. He refused to allow a recording of his music to be released because that would involve the unfamiliar "outside" world. He wasn't a sympathetic character for me. The poignancy in this film is that 1900 was someone who could have had a much more meaningful life. I saw the film as a tragedy. Viewed as such, I liked it but it sure was sad to watch.